Golf club



W. F. REACH GOLF CLUB sept. 13, 1927. 1,642,462

Filed Oct. 20, 1925 ou o f/ i UNITED #STATES WILLIAM F. REACH, F SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 A. G. SPALDING & BROS., OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION 0F NEW- JERSEY.

donn` CLUB.

y Application led October 20, 1925. Serial No. 63,757.

The invention in one. aspect thereof consists of a series of matched golf clubswhereby a club is provided specially adaptedlto meet the requirements of each' stroke which the player may be called upon to perform in the course of a game, the' said clubes having, however, certain like characteristics which are preserved throughout the s'erles, despite their variations in other respects. v

-The series of clubs is shown in the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 isa view ofthe series of matched clubs looking from the front, veach club being shown as occupying a like position in respect to the ground plane, that is, with its base or loweredge resting flat on said plane.

Fig. 2 shows the-same clubs as represented in Fig. 1 but in side elevation.l

'Fig 3 shows diagrammatically a set of irons grouped together.

These clubs of Fig. 2 are shown as having the same lie in respect to the ground line so that their similar and dissimilar characteristics can be seen .by comparison.

z5 As is well known, a golf club headhasa point onl its striking face at which the most effective impact with the ball takes place. This spotis generally known as the sweet spot and if contact with the ball takes place here the most eeetive drive will. be

thelesult as well as the most accurate delivering ofthe ball. y

Inpractice a player acquires the habit of hitting the ball at a certain part of the strik- 5 ing face of the club and When-there is alvariation in the location of the sweet spot on the series of clubs used by the player he is unable to get the most effective stroke Afrom his series of clubs.` One Ifeature of the 0' present invention is thatdespite the variations .in the clubs of the series as will be presently pointed out, the sweet spot is maintained on all the clubs at the same position relative t0 the ground. plane, and t0 5 the length and height ofthe club head.

Referring to Fig.4 1 vit will be noticed that the clubs are marked K1 'to lK6. All are shown as having the same lie`that is with their lower faces or edges resting squarely o on the ground and with their hosels, as

viewed from the front Fig. 1 lying in a vertical plane. It will be observed that the striking face of the club K1 is inclined to the horizontal so' as to make' an angle ofl 112, that the striking face of the club K1 y.is adapted -to gripthe ball. 1

makes an angle of 116 30 and that each successive club of the series has its striking face at a greater angle to the ground plane than that of the preceding club, the last club Ke being inclined 134 30 from the horizontal. The increase in pitch of the in-` clined face between successive clubs is the same number of degrees say l1/2 degrees.

Each club reaches from the ground plane to the same height measured perpendicularly to said plane. That is to say, with all the clubs. having the same lie in res ect to the ground line, the upper edges o their heads will reach to the same horizontal plane indicated Vby the line zr-. of the drawing. vOf course the width of the strik` ing face measured along its-incline from the grouid line to the-top line :vi-4v will vary in the successive clubs,the width 'of the striking face of club K being much greaterthan that of club K1 but' as before stated measured vertically the heights of all the clubs is the same. The sweet spot on the striking face o f each club lies in the same horizontal line at s, as shown, so that measured vertically fromA the ground line the sweet g spot will be at the same height from. the' ground throughout the series of clubs, and

on each club this sweet spot will be indicated by a small recess formed in the face of the club. IThe wall of this recess may be colored red or any other bright color. The

sweet spot may have about it a formation indicating its general location and as an eX- ample of this I show in the drawings a circle of depressions S1. JInstead of these ya groove may be formed in the face of the club encloslng the sweet spot indication and in both cases the. surface at the sweet spot It will be observed by a comparison of the clubs represented in Fig. 2 that therel is an exact variation in the angle of lie of the club to compensate forA the progressive shortening of the shafts. from`l K1 to 'K. The club K1 carries the longest shaft and the angle of lie is the lowest, viz, 59 as indicatd in Fig. 2. Club K2 hasa slightly shorter shaft hencef the angle of lie is Ein-` creased to 60. This brings the blade or. head of the club a little closer to the player.

This variation in the angle lof the shafts Y exists progressivelyl throughout the series,

the shaft of K6 belng at an angle' of 64 to the horizontal and this being the shortest shaft, bringing the head which has the greatest lateral inclination the closest to the ody of the layer.

Another characteristic of the set of clubs is that there is an exact variation progressively of the series in the angle of the Anose of the blade or head and also that there is an exact difference in weight between each club and the next in the series. The weights of the club heads increase according to the saine on all the blades irrespective of their relative weights, lengths or widths.

To express the problem involved in another way, it may be said that in practice a player acquires the habit of hittin the ball at a certain part of the face of the c ub head,

and where there is a variation in location of the sweet spot in clubs as ordinarily made the layer does not receive the benet of the ull power of the club except where by chance he happens to locate the proper point of impact. In other words, with the ordinary variation between clubs the sweet spot on one would be differently located on the different clubs, in respect to the height, length and width of the striking face thereof, whereas in the present set of matched clubs the sweet spot would be at the same point in respect to the dimensions mentioned and .a player will be able to get a stroke of maximum elliciency by making the impact come at the same spot on each of the clubs l of the set.

Where in the appended claims I refer to the ground lane, it will be understood that this means t ieplane in which the lower face of the club head from a to lies. This is the edge or face which rests squarly on the ground when the club is set to have the proper lie to the surface of the ground.

It is the experience of the average golfer to find one or two clubs in his set of irons Lea-aies vthat always seem to. feel more comfortable usually begets a good shot and that the average links normally call for the use of some one or two clubs more frequently than others and that naturally the clubs in which the greatest use revails as a rule become the clubs with which the player acquires greatest proficiency. One object of this invention is to make a related set of irons which, by Virtue of a progressive difference of weights in their relation to a progressive dilerence of lengths, will produce a feel common to all, to the end that a player, picking up van iron with his eyes shut, would be unable to tell which one of the set lie had in his hands.

`In other words there is a scientific relationship between the progressive weighing of the head and the progressive shortening of the shaft and in disclosing this feature of the invention I have illustrated a Set of six clubs of graduated power wherein each one of the set will be made to feel as near as possible like each of the other clubs of the set.

I claim:

l. A series of Golf clubs having the striking faces of the1r heads relatively increasingly inclined to t-he ground plane and with the same increment in degrees between successire heads, the heights of saidA heads measured pcrpendicularly from the ground plane being the saine, and the sweet spot being at the same level on all the heads, substantially as described.

2. A series of golt` clubs having the striking faces of their heads relatively increasingly inclined to the ground plane and with the saine increment in degrees between successive heads` the height of said heads measured perpendicularly from the ground plane being the same and the sweet spots being at the same level on all the heads, said clubs having shafts progrcssivelyshorter and having the angle of lie and the weight of the heads increasing by a regular progression, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

WILLIAM F. REACH. 

